Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Tulsa, has appointed former Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ Chief of Operations Scott Crow as interim director of the state’s second-largest agency.

Crow has been with the agency since April 1996, when he was hired as a Special Investigator Supervisor.

Before ODOC, he worked in law enforcement in southwest Oklahoma, from officer-level up to leadership, including as a captain with the Comanche County Sheriff’s Department and Assistant Police Chief for the City of Cache. Joe M. Allbaugh announced his immediate resignation during the monthly meeting of ODOC’s volunteer governing board, the Oklahoma Board of Corrections.

While the search for a replacement takes place, Crow will lead the agency’s more than 4,300 employees working in its 24 facilities stretched across Oklahoma, as well as Probation and Parole Services and Community Corrections. As of June 13, the system was home to 26,145 inmates, with 32,383 under community supervision and 730 in county jails awaiting housing in prison.